Sunday, August 30, 2009

Fury at Nato's Afghan clinic raid

A member of the Afghan parliament has criticised a Nato air strike on a clinic where a Taliban leader was being treated for his injuries.

US and Afghan forces attacked the clinic in the Sar Hawza district of Paktika province, eastern Afghanistan, on Thursday.

Khalid Faroqi, who represents Paktika province, said it was an offence to fire on such a facility.

Nato says that troops first made sure there were no civilians inside.

It says security forces were fired upon as they approached the clinic and responded by ordering helicopter strikes.

Amnesty International has called for an investigation into the attack, but added that if the Taliban fired first, they had committed a serious violation.

Nato said one

Nato said one soldier was killed and seven gunmen were arrested, but local officials said 12 militants died in the incident.

"After ensuring the clinic was cleared of civilians, an AH64 Apache helicopter fired rounds at the building, ending the direct threat and injuring the targeted insurgjuring the targeted insurgent in the building," Nato said on Thursday, adding that there were no civilian casualties.

Meanwhile, Nato troops and Afghan security forces say they have killed several gunmen, including a woman, in an exchange of fire with militants linked to the Taliban.

Officials said that the insurgents were killed in a gun battle in northern Kunduz province as troops approached a militant compound.